Don’t worry, I didn’t ask what everyone’s playing simply to give my opinion, I just wanted to see if I am the only one unable to pick up any IF lately—I’ve played most of the titles mentioned here too, which is probably inevitable after keeping up with these IFs for 8 years.
Visual Novels
* I Was a Teenage Exocolonist: I’ve always wanted to try this one after finding it while searching for games like BitLife and after playing Growing Up. Unfortunately, I could never find a Mac-compatible version.
* Lust Odyssey: I made a lot of progress in this one, but realized I didn’t like some of the choices I made. I restarted, intending to do things differently, but ended up dropping it—too lazy to go through it all again. Still, for an NSFW game, the plot is solid, the choices carry weight, and the relationships are surprisingly nuanced. I think it’s doing so well because it escaped criticisms of a certain category simply since all the LIs are male.
* Love Lock: I didn’t enjoy being forced into a route so early—and so suddenly. I was hoping for more yandere competition between Sebastian and the boyfriend, but the boyfriend either dies or disappears once you’re kidnapped. I can’t even find the boyfriend route. That said, I do appreciate that there’s an option to catch Sebastian with the police—I’ve always wanted that in a yandere story.
* Online Obsession: This one is a gem—great art, interesting personality choices, and engaging character interactions. The animated mini-games are a fun touch. I’m really looking forward to the full release, even though I wasn’t a fan of My Sweet! Housemate from the same dev.
Interactive Fiction
* One Knight Stand: There are so many choices and branching paths, which is usually a plus, but 90% of the time I have no idea what’s going on. It reads like a fever dream—everything happens all at once. As a perfectionist, I struggle with deciding on a background and sticking to a personality. If I play it again, I’ll probably just pick options randomly and see where it leads. Also, I miss a lot of the Easter eggs and humor since I’m not a movie buff and I am not familiar with the pop culture references.
* Weeping Gods: I like it, but most of the ROs seem to push the MC away, which gets frustrating.
* Jolly Good: Tea and Scones: I’d love to try the new demo, but I barely remember anything from the first book.
* Mind Blind: I’ve had to replay it so many times—first because of code changes, then because of new links, and now with Cogdemos being unreliable, I think I’ll just wait for the full release.
More VNs
* Andromeda Six: When I was new to VNs, it felt fresh and exciting. Now, all the routes feel too similar—like they just swap out the sprite and tweak a few lines based on the LI’s background and relationship with the MC.
* Infinite Stars: I agree with the sentiment. It’s more choice-heavy than most VNs, but the last update introduced bugs that break progression and forces you to restart. The dev only acknowledged that saves no longer work after someone brought it up on F95. Also, I was totally blindsided (and lowkey traumatized) by that forced scene with naked Veera in the gym—especially since I wasn’t even romancing her, wtf.
* Killer Chat: Honestly, this is the worst chat-style VN I’ve ever played. These types of games are already limited in plot due to the format, but here it’s worse—you only communicate via a Discord-style app, only see the LIs through video calls, and you're forced to share them with other LIs. Some of these characters were even together in the past, and you’re expected to be chill about it, let them have a say in your new relationship, and have them match make you because they know the LI better than you or risk losing affection points with your chosen LI. The romance took forever to start, and I couldn’t finish it. I definitely prefer single-LI chat VNs.
* Rose of Segunda / Thorns of War: Leopold’s route was perfection. I haven’t been able to bring myself to try any other route—can’t imagine a version where Iolanthe and Leo aren’t together.
IFs (continued)
* Kingdoms and Empires: I agree with the opinions others have already expressed here.
* POMA / Aura Clash: I don’t think I’ll be reading anything by these authors again.
* The Bastard of Camelot: The updates content feels like being fed with a micropipette.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Misplaced yet. Am I the only one who feels like the choices fall flat? Interacting with Az'Lean feels more like a child speaking to a parental figure—he’s always right, and only his opinion matters. The MC constantly gets rebuked, and there’s barely any romance. If you don’t romance him, Thianne’s relationship with him gets more attention than anything you get. I chose to reveal that the MC is fae, but it hasn’t led to anything—it hasn’t even been brought up again. Now I kind of regret telling him. Maybe saving that reveal would have had more impact.
I’ve also been replaying Crown of Exile to try Oren’s route. I kept choosing the bold flirt options, but after the third time I got yet another variant of : "Sir Oren gazes at you, a faint blush on his cheeks." / "My duty is to ensure both you and His Highness are safe." And honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading after that.
Visual Novels
* I Was a Teenage Exocolonist: I’ve always wanted to try this one after finding it while searching for games like BitLife and after playing Growing Up. Unfortunately, I could never find a Mac-compatible version.
* Lust Odyssey: I made a lot of progress in this one, but realized I didn’t like some of the choices I made. I restarted, intending to do things differently, but ended up dropping it—too lazy to go through it all again. Still, for an NSFW game, the plot is solid, the choices carry weight, and the relationships are surprisingly nuanced. I think it’s doing so well because it escaped criticisms of a certain category simply since all the LIs are male.
* Love Lock: I didn’t enjoy being forced into a route so early—and so suddenly. I was hoping for more yandere competition between Sebastian and the boyfriend, but the boyfriend either dies or disappears once you’re kidnapped. I can’t even find the boyfriend route. That said, I do appreciate that there’s an option to catch Sebastian with the police—I’ve always wanted that in a yandere story.
* Online Obsession: This one is a gem—great art, interesting personality choices, and engaging character interactions. The animated mini-games are a fun touch. I’m really looking forward to the full release, even though I wasn’t a fan of My Sweet! Housemate from the same dev.
Interactive Fiction
* One Knight Stand: There are so many choices and branching paths, which is usually a plus, but 90% of the time I have no idea what’s going on. It reads like a fever dream—everything happens all at once. As a perfectionist, I struggle with deciding on a background and sticking to a personality. If I play it again, I’ll probably just pick options randomly and see where it leads. Also, I miss a lot of the Easter eggs and humor since I’m not a movie buff and I am not familiar with the pop culture references.
* Weeping Gods: I like it, but most of the ROs seem to push the MC away, which gets frustrating.
* Jolly Good: Tea and Scones: I’d love to try the new demo, but I barely remember anything from the first book.
* Mind Blind: I’ve had to replay it so many times—first because of code changes, then because of new links, and now with Cogdemos being unreliable, I think I’ll just wait for the full release.
More VNs
* Andromeda Six: When I was new to VNs, it felt fresh and exciting. Now, all the routes feel too similar—like they just swap out the sprite and tweak a few lines based on the LI’s background and relationship with the MC.
* Infinite Stars: I agree with the sentiment. It’s more choice-heavy than most VNs, but the last update introduced bugs that break progression and forces you to restart. The dev only acknowledged that saves no longer work after someone brought it up on F95. Also, I was totally blindsided (and lowkey traumatized) by that forced scene with naked Veera in the gym—especially since I wasn’t even romancing her, wtf.
* Killer Chat: Honestly, this is the worst chat-style VN I’ve ever played. These types of games are already limited in plot due to the format, but here it’s worse—you only communicate via a Discord-style app, only see the LIs through video calls, and you're forced to share them with other LIs. Some of these characters were even together in the past, and you’re expected to be chill about it, let them have a say in your new relationship, and have them match make you because they know the LI better than you or risk losing affection points with your chosen LI. The romance took forever to start, and I couldn’t finish it. I definitely prefer single-LI chat VNs.
* Rose of Segunda / Thorns of War: Leopold’s route was perfection. I haven’t been able to bring myself to try any other route—can’t imagine a version where Iolanthe and Leo aren’t together.
IFs (continued)
* Kingdoms and Empires: I agree with the opinions others have already expressed here.
* POMA / Aura Clash: I don’t think I’ll be reading anything by these authors again.
* The Bastard of Camelot: The updates content feels like being fed with a micropipette.
------------------------------------------
Surprised no one has mentioned Misplaced yet. Am I the only one who feels like the choices fall flat? Interacting with Az'Lean feels more like a child speaking to a parental figure—he’s always right, and only his opinion matters. The MC constantly gets rebuked, and there’s barely any romance. If you don’t romance him, Thianne’s relationship with him gets more attention than anything you get. I chose to reveal that the MC is fae, but it hasn’t led to anything—it hasn’t even been brought up again. Now I kind of regret telling him. Maybe saving that reveal would have had more impact.
I’ve also been replaying Crown of Exile to try Oren’s route. I kept choosing the bold flirt options, but after the third time I got yet another variant of : "Sir Oren gazes at you, a faint blush on his cheeks." / "My duty is to ensure both you and His Highness are safe." And honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading after that.
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Or maybe a scene where MC can kind of sacrifice themselves to protect Az'lean. I want MC's actions to be able to change Az'lean's perspective of the fae
had me thinking someone could’ve been in my house, but the rest of it kind of lacks a good balance between the comedy and everything else.
